Flying the Flag: the history of French drivers in F1

As France celebrates three new protagonists to cheer for the 2012 season, Adam Cooper looks back at the history of French drivers in F1 and at how the current crop has risen to the top

When Caterham announced that Vitaly Petrov was to replace Jarno Trulli, it was suddenly apparent that Italy – a country that has played such a huge part in the sport's history – was without a Formula 1 driver for the first time in decades.

It's a scenario that has also recently played out in France. With no Gallic representation at the top level in 2010-11, the country's veteran radio journalists had to rely on multilingual drivers such as Trulli, Nico Rosberg, Sebastien Buemi and Jerome d'Ambrosio for their soundbites.